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From the LA Times:

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Probe of Guard Pact Is Ordered
SACRAMENTO - A federal judge Wednesday ordered an investigation into the state's labor contract with California's correctional officers, asking whether it gives their union too much control over prison management.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-prison18nov18,1,2956070.story?coll=la-headlines-california

Firm Billed DWP for Work Tied to Hahn
Records show publicists had long meetings with the mayor's deputies. He denies impropriety.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-hahn18nov18,1,4045916.story?coll=la-headlines-california

L.A. Business Tax Reforms OKd
The City Council votes to eliminate the gross receipts tax for firms that make $100,000 or less in a year. Hahn says he'll sign the measures.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-tax18nov18,1,4043590.story?coll=la-headlines-california

Day Laborers Sue Redondo Beach Over Stings
Day laborers carrying protest signs marched on Redondo Beach City Hall on Wednesday after filing a federal lawsuit seeking to stop enforcement of an ordinance against soliciting jobs on the streets.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-redondo18nov18,1,4849736.story?coll=la-headlines-california

Longer Trash Truck Trips Raise Concerns
A proposal to dump Los Angeles' trash in landfills outside the city drew expressions of concern from county officials and residents Wednesday about the possible environmental effects of longer truck trips.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-trash18nov18,1,4418502.story?coll=la-headlines-california

News Rack Regulation Advances
The Los Angeles City Council advanced a proposal Wednesday to regulate the placement and color of news racks throughout the city, setting the ordinance for final approval next week.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-racks18nov18,1,949681.story?coll=la-headlines-california

City Favors New Policy on Naming Communities
A City Council committee voted this week in favor of a citywide policy for naming communities and installing the blue street signs informing motorists that they are crossing into a community's boundaries.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-briefs18.2nov18,1,2113255.story?coll=la-headlines-california

Neighborhood Council's Election Under Fire
Community members in Venice violated their bylaws while planning for an election for board members last June, according to a report issued this week by the city's Human Relations Commission.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-briefs18.3nov18,1,2506472.story?coll=la-headlines-california

Donation of food nothing to gobble at
One hundred turkeys arrived on Monday to help kick off Thanksgiving food drive.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/burbank/news/la-blr-turkey17nov17,1,3995719.story

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From the Daily News:

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L.A.'s invisible killer
A new medical study that found even minute amounts of ozone in the air can be deadly prompted calls Wednesday for much stricter controls on emissions of the invisible gas in smog-ridden Los Angeles.
http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200~20954~2541679,00.html

We're a state on the move
SACRAMENTO -- High rents and rising home prices are pushing one in every four Californians to consider moving elsewhere in the state or leaving California entirely, says a new statewide survey on places people call home.
http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200%257E20954%257E2541661,00.html

Council OKs cuts in business taxes
L.A. still costlier than neighbors
http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200%257E20954%257E2541908,00.html

DWP paid P.R. firm to spin opinion on 'green power' issue
DWP officials paid thousands of dollars in 2002 to Fleishman-Hillard for damage control months before Los Angeles City Controller Laura Chick issued an audit accusing the public relations firm's subcontractor of faulty billings, according to city documents and interviews Wednesday.
http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200%257E20954%257E2542177,00.html

$6.7 billion deficit looms
State budget still faces structural imbalance
http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200%257E20954%257E2541692,00.html

Subway study is back on track
City Councilman Tom LaBonge's effort to overturn two laws banning subway construction in Los Angeles County inched forward Wednesday when an MTA committee agreed to study the issue.
http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200%257E20954%257E2541699,00.html

More news rack colors nixed
Newspapers protest cost, threaten free speech suit
http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200%257E20954%257E2541874,00.html

Pedestrian bridge to be open during day
SHERMAN OAKS -- After hearing from people Wednesday night on both sides of a debate concerning a closed pedestrian bridge over the Los Angeles River, City Councilwoman Wendy Greuel decided to reopen the bridge during the day, and have it closed at night.
http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200%257E20954%257E2542075,00.html

L.A., El Segundo ready for talks
Los Angeles and El Segundo officials announced Wednesday they have agreed to at least talk about plans to limit the number of passengers at Los Angeles International Airport.
http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200%257E20954%257E2542013,00.html

Trash traffic and pollution worry county
Firm proposes to haul 3,500 tons a day outside city limits
http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200%257E20954%257E2541968,00.html

Answer is needed now for more police in L.A.
IT was a scene out of a movie -- in fact it was not unlike a scene in the Los Angeles Police Department recruitment film that premiered in front of Chief William Bratton last week: A crazed, desperate man takes a pregnant woman hostage. The situation seems dire. The crowd is at a loss, but then a hero -- a SWAT-trained LAPD officer -- gets into position and takes down the hostage-taker, releasing the woman unharmed.
http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200~24781~2541416,00.html

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From other sources:

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From Mayor Hahn
Mayor Hahn Kicks Off New Program To Reduce Gang Violence For Boyle Heights Middle School Students
http://www.lacity.org/mayor/myrpress/mayormyrpress27425061_11172004.pdf

From the Department of Homeland Security
ICE Detention And Removal Sets Record For Fiscal Year 2004
Alien Removals Increase by 12,000; Fugitive Alien Apprehensions Climb 112 Percent
http://www.ice.gov/graphics/news/newsreleases/articles/droFY04.htm